Public Domain Poetry - Advice. by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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Advice.

    By Ella Wheeler Wilcox



    I must do as you do? Your way I own
        Is a very good way. And still,
    There are sometimes two straight roads to a town,
        One over, one under the hill.

    You are treading the safe and the well-worn way,
        That the prudent choose each time;
    And you think me reckless and rash to-day,
        Because I prefer to climb.

    Your path is the right one, and so is mine.
        We are not like peas in a pod,
    Compelled to lie in a certain line,
        Or else be scattered abroad.

    'Twere a dull old world, methinks, my friend,
        If we all went just one way;
    Yet our paths will meet no doubt at the end,
        Though they lead apart to-day.

    You like the shade, and I like the sun;
        You like an even pace,
    I like to mix with the crowd and run,
        And then rest after the race.

    I like danger, and storm and strife,
        You like a peaceful time;
    I like the passion and surge of life,
        You like its gentle rhyme.

    You like buttercups, dewy sweet,
        And crocuses, framed in snow;
    I like roses, born of the heat,
        And the red carnation's glow.

    I must live my life, not yours, my friend,
        For so it was written down;
    We must follow our given paths to the end,
        But I trust we shall meet - in town.





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